According to Merriam-Webster, “metanoia” is a Greek word describing “a transformative change of heart.” A faith-based non-profit in South Carolina has lived into that definition in remarkable ways, observers say.
For this intentional Christian community, seeking the world’s healing means battling gentrification close at home
Enderly Park is blistering under an unseasonable September heat, and Frank Byers saunters across Tuckaseegee Road to the rec center where he likes to play cards with his neighbors. He doesn’t use the crosswalk, but in many ways he’s earned…
What is QC Family Tree?
QC Family Tree is an intentional Christian community forming relationships and seeking justice alongside residents of the Enderly Park neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C. Since 2005, co-directors Greg and Helms Jarrell have called the Queen City home and sought wholeness with…
The gift that is missing in our talk about affordable housing
In my city, Charlotte, N.C., we have reached a general consensus concerning housing and affordability: we all agree that there is not nearly enough of affordable housing, and we would all like for someone else to do something about it.
Being irresponsible in a world which doesn’t understand being responsible
“Because I’m irresponsibly mad …” — Sammy Cahn Some friends are reporting recently that they have been “adulting.” Emblematic of this is one woman’s recent decision to purchase tires rather than more shoes. These are the sorts of decisions that…
Stop talking about gentrification
My beloved neighborhood in west Charlotte is on the brink of big changes. Neighbors are trying to figure out what those changes will be and how to have a voice in them, and we keep coming back to one term…
Gentrification and its discontents
Chris and I are riding home from church when I bring up local politics. I’m interested in what he thinks about the creeping development that is beginning to put some pressure on the edges of our neighborhood. “Have you noticed…
How God changes our neighborhood
Have you ever driven through an old neighborhood and thought, “Why haven’t they just bulldozed this whole place? This is a mess! This is an eyesore! The people still living here should get a medal.” How do we respond to a…